Macbook - Constant Poor Airport Signal

Hi guys,
I've had my macbook for about 5 years now, and in the last 3-4 months i've been having some annoying issues with my airport connectivity, i've finally decided to try and sort this out! The problem is that my macbook has become terrible at picking up airport signal... whereas other computers, ipads, xbox 360 and such can pick up the signal absolutely fine, I have to move very close to the hub to get any signal at all. Now for example I am sitting about 3-4 meters away from the hub and I am getting 1-2 bars! ***!!
Its not anything to do with the network as I have tried in several different locations and with the same results... no signal unless I have literally right next the the airport sender box thingy (hub). Could it be something to do with the software? Or perhaps the airport card is playing up? If so can I get a new card?
Any help would be greatly appreciated....
I guess a system spec would also be helpful so I have:
Processor: 2GHz Intel Core Duo
Memory: 2 GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Operating System: 10.4.11
Airport Card Info:
Card type: Airport Extreme (0x168C, 0x86)
Wireless Card Locale: Worldwide
Wireless Card Firmware Version: 1.4.4

Hi Dillweed
Here are some options that might help:
- Restarting the router
- Creating a new location (see below)
At 5 years old, it's possible your AirPort card is on its way out. If you can't afford to change it then you could try:
- Connecting with an Ethernet cable (always gives the best connections and faster speeds!)
- Buying a USB wireless dongle.
Bob
PS: Creating a new "Location":
System Preferences > Network
Select the AirPort from the left hand side
Click on the Locations combo box and select Edit Locations...
Click on + to add a new location, call it "Home" (or anything else you prefer)
Click on Advanced
Select the AirPort tab and enter your network name
Select TCP/IP tab.
Configure IPv4 Using DHCP
Now click on Renew DHCP Lease. After a few seconds you should get an IP address (probably 192.168.x.x)
Click on Proxies tab.
Select Auto Proxy Discovery and Use Passive FTP
Click on OK and Apply, etc.

Similar Messages

Poor Airport Signal

I have a macbook pro with Mac OS 10.4.11, and I have noticed extremely low airport signals on my laptop. I thought maybe that it was always the routers I was using, because my laptop is in perfect condition, and i had not changed anything on it. But I know that it is my Laptop because I have a router in the room next to me, and the signal strength bars remain at 2-3, when they should be full. Also, I am a university student, and in my classrooms I can see other people on their Mac AND windows laptops, and they are all browsing the web easily, while my laptop wont even pick up a signal, and if it does it will be for 2-3 seconds.
The range is supposed to be 150 feet for my airport, and i am no more than 15 feet away from my router with a 3/4 full signal strength. pitiful.
can anyone help? I know others have been having the same problem as me. Will Apple do anything about this if my warranty is expired?

Hi eraserface, and a warm welcome to the forums!
First thing to do is check for a loose or frayed Antenn, or loose card.
There are some USB options that'd be cheaper than a repair though...
http://www.afterthemac.com/product.php?id=Mac%20USB%20Wireless%20G54SL
http://eshop.macsales.com/Item_XLR8YourMac.cfm?ID=8862&Item=ASUWL167G

Black MacBook poor Airport signal

I have an original Black MacBook. I have a home network with an AEBS and a G5, iBook and my Black MacBook all using the network. I also have a Airport Express to stream my tunes to my stereo. OS 10.5.4
Sometime ago my Black MacBook started to drop the signal unless I was right near the the base station. I tried lots of different things to fix it but nothing seemed to work. Sometimes I get full bars and sometimes it just gets worse until it drops the connection. When the connection drops moving it closer to the base station will restore it. The G5 and the iBook are both fine from anywhere in my house.
I called a place to order an airport card and the tech said 'if the card works close then it is ok and prolly the antenna.' I opened up the Black Macbook and checked both antenna wires for tight connection and I also removed and re-seated the airport card. Not a hard task other that lots of screws to remove.
This did not work. Can anyone suggest something else? Is it possible that the card is wanky or is the tech correct that the card either works or doesn't work. I looked around and I think you have to get the whole display in order to change out the antenna.
Now I am at my wit's end.
Thanks in advance.

I managed to get an Airport card from iFixit in the states. 80 bucks and 30 shipping but it was worth it. I found some disassembly instructions on the net and replaced it in about 15 minutes.
Works like a charm so far.

MacBook keeps dropping Airport signal

My new MacBook keep loosing ist connection with the AirPort Express.....i'm not sure if its the Express or the MacBook....there is only a few feet of distance between the two and all updates have been added to the MacBook. After 3 bad Pro's and one bad MacBook I really want to keep this unit and any help you guys could give me would be great.....i'm a new mac user. Cheers.

I had the same issue with my new MacBook and thought it was the notebook.
Here's my story: I went back to the Apple Store where I bought my macbook and told them that there is something wrong with my AirPort card inside the macbook that is "defective" because it kept dropping signals. I would get a connection for a few minutes or seconds and then lose the signal the next! The manager had NO CLUE why that was happening and asked that I show proof by reproducing it inside their Apple Store! I told the manager I would like a new one and she was nice enough to exchange it for me at no cost.
After doing my own research, I discovered that the problem was not with my MacBook, but rather it was with my Linksys wireless DSL router. Luckily, all I had to do was update the firmware on the Linksys DSL router and....I have not lost signal since!
My suggestion is to update the firmware of your router (e.g. Linksys, Belkin, D-Link, etc. All I had to do was go to Linksys' website and download the updates and run it through my router system) and see if that fixes the problem. Good luck!

Poor Airport signal strengh

A friend of mine has a 1.6 GHz G5 iMac which has a very poor signal strengh even though his iMac is right next to his wireless router (Netgear). His daughter uses a PC laptop and gets very good signal anywhere in the same house.
A few weeks ago my friend brings his iMac to my house. I have a Apple network with five Mac's and my friends iMac only just picks up my network even though it is right next to an Airport Express.
All my Mac's are Airport which get max signal strengh with even my iBook getting a great signal outside (weather permitting).
We checked the aerial connection to his Airport Card which seems fine and my friend says that his signal strengh has always been poor since he fitted his Airport card. His Card seems to work O.K. but sometimes struggles to connect.
My friend is running 10.4.3. as i was until i updated.
Would removing and refitting Airport card help.
Anyone with any ideas.
Neil.

Neil, ABSOLUTLY, There have been several reports of Airport Extreme cards coming from the factory not seated properly. It appears that just pusing them in is not enough, they must be two thumbed very hard in order for them to seat properly. The problem you describe fits this to a tee.
Don

Airport Signal stays low on imac g5 isight,even with new card.

I am a fairly new user in the mac world & until now have had no problems.
However the problem I have is a poor Airport signal mainly two bar droping to one,occassionally the signal gets stronger,this has only just started during the last couple of months.I really noticed the problem when downloading podcasts,as it began to download,then froze & ultimately lead to the internet connection timing out.I contacted the local store who have always helped me before they took the imac in,tried everything finaly putting in a new card,this worked fine in their shop but again didn't at home.My son has a imac g3 next to mine also on the wireless network & his signal is full strength.My machine is back at the shop where they are now going to try a new antenna.As you can see from my post I am not very technical but has anyone had any similar problems & found any different answers.

I did not see resetting PRAM mentioned yet, so if not done already, do that
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
plus this procedure to reset SMU (power management)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767
Be sure to follow it precisely. When you reconnect the power cord, if you are using a crowded or old power strip, connect it directly to a wall outlet for this test. Power it up with nothing connected except power cord and once it starts up, connect only your keyboard/mouse (no other USB/FireWire peripherals). Try using it that way to see if the problem still recurs.
The only other suggestion I have is, if you have a external FireWire drive that you can erase (or create a small partition on), install a fresh Leopard installation on it. Start up from it and see if this problem still recurs.
Alternately, back up your data, erase (re-partition and reformat) the interal drive, and reinstall Leopard on the internal drive, then give it a try. If you clone (using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) to an external FireWire drive as your backup, you can still boot from your current installation (on the external drive). If the fresh installation test does NOT work, you can clone your clone back to the internal drive. If it does work with a fresh installation, you can keep using it and transfer just your user data back from the clone.

Weak Airport signal strength after MacBook upgrade to OS 10.5

Today, I finally upgraded my 13-inch 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook (2 gig RAM, 160 gig HD) to OS 10.5 from OS 10.4.11. After using install and archive to install the new system, I noticed the Airport signal was down to three bars from the usual four. After completing all the system updates to bring it up to 10.5.8, its still receiving only three bars. We're using a 2Wire wireless DSL modem for Internet service. I was getting the full four bars before the system upgrade, and my wife's 14" G4 iBook is still getting four bars.
What's going on here? Is there an available fix for this? Or am I doomed to going back to OS 10.4.11?
Roger

rmatile wrote:
Today, I finally upgraded my 13-inch 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook (2 gig RAM, 160 gig HD) to OS 10.5 from OS 10.4.11. After using install and archive to install the new system, I noticed the Airport signal was down to three bars from the usual four. After completing all the system updates to bring it up to 10.5.8, its still receiving only three bars. We're using a 2Wire wireless DSL modem for Internet service. I was getting the full four bars before the system upgrade, and my wife's 14" G4 iBook is still getting four bars.
Those bars are only an approximation of Wi-Fi signal strength. In Mac OS X 10.5 if you pull down the AirPort menu bar item while holding down an option key you'll see a value "RSSI", which is the actual signal strength. If you were using an AirPort base station, you could use AirPort Utility to see actual signal and noise levels.
In Mac OS X 10.4 I don't think that option key trick works, but you should be able to use the AirPort command-line utility, as describe in the electronic book "Take Control of Your 802.11n AirPort Network" (http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/airport-n):
- Launch Terminal
- Type this command:
cd /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/\
Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/
- Type this command:
./airport -s
You'll see the "RSSI" value in one of the columns. If you compare the "RSSI" values for both OS versions, you may find the "RSSI" values more similar than the AirPort menu bar arcs suggest.
I have no financial connection to Take Control Books.

Poor Airport Reception in MBP

I just bought the 15" 2.16 GHZ MacBook Pro 2 days ago and have notcied the airport reception is flaky. When I am 2 rooms away from my router, I get 4/5 bars and then when I go downstairs, it fluctualtes from 1 bar to 4 bars - very inconsistent.
This never used to happen with my titanium nor does this happen with my Dad's iBook or Sony Vaio.
Is anyone else experiencing this issue? Should I take it back to the store?
Thanks.
Macbook Pro 15" 2.16 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I have genuine Airport Signal issues with my MacBook Pro, when sitting with the laptop IN CONTACT WITH the airport base station I can't get more than 75% signal, with it 2 feet away I'm at 50%, much more than 5 feet and I'm down to 20% and dropping signal regularly. Through walls? Not a chance.
Obviously, this is not normal behavior for a MacBook Pro, so I will be taking it in to the apple store - I just know that they are gonna ship it back to apple, and I don't want to be without my machine for a week, so I haven't quite got around to it yet.
I have tried multiple apple-branded airports, including the extreme and express I both own and severals others, as well as multiple 3rd party base stations. Signals and connection stability have been unusably poor in all cases.
I have ran all the latest software updates and firmware patches, and have wiped the hard drive and re-installed the entire system from scratch. No change.
I haven't found many other people complaining of similar problems, so I suspect I'm just unlucky. On the other hand, perhaps my antenna isn't plugged in or something simple. Even if that was the case, I doubt that the apple store itself would fix it so I gear up for shipment back to apple.
Sigh.
MacBook Pro 2.0ghz Mac OS X (10.4.6) 2GB RAM, 100GB HD

Internet speed issues when macbook pro joins Airport Network

I have an apple tv, two iphones, a PC and a macbook sharing a Airport Extreme internet connection.
The problem is that all devices are working on full internet speed until i connect my macbook pro late 2009.
Normaly i have a download speed at 650kb/s but when the macbook connects to the Airport extreme the internet speed is jumping between 20kb/s and 200kb/s
The unusual thing are the jumps and drops of the speed.
When i shut down the Macbook all other devices are running on normal internet speed and the internet connection is not jumping anymore.
What the **** is going on?

SOLUTION FOUND to MacBook Pro poor Wi-Fi wireless signal.
First, let's talk about the actual problem: too much signal noise. There is a hidden app in OSX called "Wi-Fi Diagnostics" This will tell you everything you need to know why your Wi-Fi is not working!
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5606
HINT: It is included in 10.7, just look for it.
The solution!
Turn off your wi-fi and run your internet through your home's electrical wires. Power-line adapters are devices that turn a home's electrical wiring into network cables for a computer network.
http://reviews.cnet.com/2733-3243_7-568-8.html
I purchased TP-LINK TL-PA511 and for the first time I'm downloading with ALL my internet speed (30mb down / 5mb up) tested via www.speedtest.net. I'M SOOOOO HAPPY!!!!
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA511-Powerline-Starter-Kit/dp/B0081FLFQE/ref=s r_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385395374&sr=8-1&keywords=TP-LINK+TL-PA511

Imac 24-Why does my airport signal keep changing??

my airport signal keeps changing??
right next to my imac i have my powerbook 17
and it's signal is full...where my IMac signal is not??
signal on my imac is 2 bars from full most of the time!!
is this a IMAC thing or what??

No real help but this is a common problem for c2d machines it seems. They have the new "n" protocol wireless card in which willl be faster and further than the g with the new apple extreme base station. It will also be very good for streaming video (iTV). This is just consolation for an iffy wireless link. These boards have many threads on this topic (eg macbook pro area). Do a search any you will find the others with the problem and maybe a solution.
Cheers

Poor wifi signal

My New Macbook air has very poor wifi signal, I have to sit within feet of my router to have a usable connection, I cannot even use it in the next room.
Does anybody else have this problem, and would purchasing a antenna booster or signal repeater do the job?

Here are some troubleshooting suggestions:
OS X Mountain Lion: Solve problems with connecting to the Internet

Airport signal good with no internet???

So my airport signal is full as a guest user at school. My firewall is off and system says I'm connected to the internet - but the page never loads... I never had a problem, then one day it just stopped working! I have to log on to Aruba while on campus, so I contacted them and they said my computer is the problem, not the network. No Norton installed here...what is the problem!! Please help me!

Nope it wasn't the kerberos stuff... my OS version is uptodate - 10.5.8... but this post is the answer for me - towards the bottom of the post- search for adhoc....
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8879400
the answer in that my configd was signed by "adhoc"... I replaced the configd from a time machine backup, like suggested, now it is signed proper and so far so good...
And yes this is less than half year old macbook... apples aren't supposed to have this trouble BUT I've learned not to panic and spend too much time... not reloading OS's etc... just do the 15 minute search and try things and overall not bad relative to my old windows experiences...

Airport signal blinking and others WIFI problems

I have a serious problem with my MacBook Pro. The WIFI signal is pretty weak compared to my old iBook or PowerMac G5, and sometimes, the Airport signal is lost and the Airport signal goes from 5 bars to 0, like a blinking.
I have this message in the Console " Feb 2 21:57:27 ordinateur-de- /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport: Error: WirelessAssociate2() = 88001006 for network Airport. The operation timed out. "
I have no problem with the iBook or the PM G5 on the same WIFI network.
What can I do ?

if you are having a reception issue, you may be having some sort of environmental interference.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58543
also, you can organize your network ports to have airport as your primary. this may help
open system preferences > network
- change the Show: to network port configuration
- drag airport to the top of the list
- click apply now , in bottom right
- restart
hope this helps

When I answer my vonage voip phone I loose my Airport signal.

Since I've installed Snow Leopard OS, everytime I answer my home phone which is Vonage Voip, I loose my Airport signal on my MacBook. It has to be related to the OS, because my other laptop which is PC works fine with the phone in use and the same Airport network.
Has anyone else encountered this issue?

This is strange. Your Vonage phone using a small Vonage router with an Ethernet and an RJ11 port that connects a phone cable to a regular phone. All voip on the net is UDP, not TCP/IP.
I am trying to understand how you network is set up. Is it from some kind of modem (cable, DSL or something else) to a wireless router. What router is that router? Then you have the Vonage router connect to an Ethernet port on the wireless router. Then the phone connects to the Vonage router's phone port. Is this correct?
I am just wondering if your wireless router is trumping all traffic for that UDP traffic generate by the Vonage router.

Dell PC cannot find airport signal

I just installed Time Capsule and my the airport signal is successfully being picked up by my MacBook, G5, as well as my other HP PC which has a linksys PCI card.
For some reason, my Dell PC is not able to find the airport signal when it is seeking available networks.
Perhaps this question should be put to a PC/Dell discussion board (if one exists). Thanks.

Here's a few more things to try...
1. Create a New User Account
- Create a new user account.
-- System Preferences > Accounts
-- Click "+" to add a new account
- Log off, then log back on with the new user account.
- Try connecting with the AirPort after wake up.
2. Run the Disk Utility to repair Disk Permissions.
- Try connecting with the AirPort after wake up.
3. Turn off the Mac OS X Firewall
- System Preferences > Sharing > Firewall
- Click the "Stop" button.
- Try connecting with the AirPort after wake up.
4. Move System Configuration Files (last resort)
(Note: You will have to reestablish your network connections settings.)
- Go to /Library/Preferences
- Move the SystemConfiguration folder and com.apple.networkConfig.plist file to the desktop.
- Restart your Mac. (Note: OS X will rebuild the files that are now sitting on your desktop. If this doesn't resolve the issue, you can move the folder & .plist file back to it's original location.)
- Try connecting with the AirPort after wake up.

Macbook - Constant Poor Airport Signal

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for